MONTREAL — Johnny Boychuk played not only his best game of the Bruins’ playoff series with Montreal, but maybe his best game in months tonight in Boston’s 4-2 win.

Had he not avoided the oncoming check of Montreal’s Benoit Pouliot late in the first period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Bruins and Canadiens at the Bell Centre, he might not have been around to see the end of the victory.

Here’s the penalty:

After the game, Boychuk wasn’t among the Bruins players made available. And there wasn’t much talk about the hit among all the storylines in Boston’s important win. Head coach Claude Julien offered this comment as part of an answer to a question about Andrew Ference’s decision to challenge Pouliot to a fight after the hit.

“It was a penalty obviously. I thought it could’ve ended up worse than it did because he jumped up in the air and it was definitely a charging penalty,” said Julien.

Whether the league will exact further punishment on Pouliot, we’ll be sure to find out in the two days off before Thursday’s Game 4.

So you can now go to you Habs fanatic fansite where you will have all the crying and hand-holding you canadiens need. We don’t appreciate you coming onto a website where you don’t have to be and complain and cause controversy. THANK YOU.

You can ask any fan from any other team in the league and I assure you that well over 50% of them will tell you that Habs fans are the worst. They are obnoxious, rude, and disrespectful to all but themselves. They boo America’s national anthem (when they are one of the teams with the most American’s). They riot and create violence within their own streets amongst their own people…. Now they migrate to a rival team’s blog SPECIFICALLY DEDICATED TO ONE TEAM, and raise hell just because one of his players threw a flying elbow at an opposing players head and he disagrees that it was illegal, and he’s also hurt do to the fact that one of his soft players got hurt by a legal check put on by a much larger/stronger man.

There was no outstretched hand, just trying to find out if NESN hockey commentary is typical of all Boston sports or just hockey. As a hockey fan, I watch many teams on their local networks, and this and one in Philadelphia are the only ones that sounds more interested in violence than hockey.

Although you didn’t answer any of my questions, you did live up to my expectations. Thank you.

leave it to the canadian to come on a BRUINS site and act as though he had done nothing wrong. you can’t go to a rival’s blog and expect an outstretched hand. of course people are going to disagree with you, especially if you use your canadian arrogance…

No one in Montreal is supporting Pouliot for what he did. I don’t want to see anyone injured. I want to see Crosby, Malkin, Seabrooke, Marc Savard and Max Pacioretty play, not juniors and journeymen.

That being said, watch the play again. If Pouliot had wanted to elbow Boychuk he would have, but he turned away. And his feet were on the ice when the contact was made. His feet only left the ice after he hit the boards. Definitely deserved the penalty, but no more.

As for the commentators they sound like drunken fans, screaming insults about the other team and their fans. Just curious, do Celtics, Red Sox and Pats commentators sound like that too, or is it just for hockey?

Subban sure picks up some serious speed coming out of his end. I can’t wait to see somebody perfectly time a big body check, it will be lights out. Subban almost lined up Thornton last night too. He can dish it out, let’s see what happens when he takes a huge hit. Goodnight Irene.

The NESN feed is a local feed. We love how biased they are, no defense, no apologies.

Driving a person into the boards is a legal hockey play. It is a shame his neck got broken but it is a legal hockey play. Leaving your feet and trying to drive your elbow through someone’s head that is already engaged with another of your players is worthy of the team you cheer for.

Diving ….. although normally associated and practiced by the Canadiens (especially in MONTREAL !!!), this has become a problem with a lot of teams / players. If you watch the Lightning this year they are flopping around like a 300 lb Tuna hauled onto the boat off the Georges Banks!!! Why ? Because they have one of the most potent PP’s in the league *and* it works!!! The Refs buy it and call the penalties! They need to start reviewing and fining these players. In the ‘old’ days diving was frowned on and policed by each one’s own team! Ever since the Euro / Russian invasion we have professional wrestling moves on display on a nightly basis that make Soccer players look like Iron Man….

Barry Melrose sucks… he was an awful coach, and I have no idea why him or Matt Barnaby are on ESPN. Also, the diving is getting out of control. I’ve never seen a team as a whole feign injury or go down as easily as the Habs do. Give them credit for having an awesome power play… but how they seem to get there most of the time is very questionable.

Last night when Chara Knocked down his man in the corner the whole crowd roared and wanted a penalty and I didn’t understand why. They showed the play after the next stoppage and as the guy fell Chara’s stick hit the guy in the face. Even still I didn’t think there was any chance of an intentional highstick/slash or anything else malicious. I turn on ESPN this morning and Barry Melrose goes off on Chara saying he INTENTIONALLY hit the guy in the face!!! People need to stop looking for every reason to accuse Chara of trying to kill people…. its ridiculous!

Honestly I don’t mind most of the penalties that were called on the Bruins-they were clear or close enough, but where are the diving calls? Do the Habs ever get calls for diving?

I think there won’t be any further discipline because while the hit was definitely illegal it didn’t really hit Boychuk (thankfully-nobody wants to see Hnidy dress another game). I suspect regular season they might have done something supplemental, but I don’t see it here.

As for the Edwards rant about there not being a call-the whole time he was ranting my daughter was going “but they did call the penalty-I saw the ref raise his hand for a penalty” so she definitely saw it. I think Jack was blinded by the fight.

I expected a lot of dives, but this is starting to get truly ridiculous. A Hab went to initiate body contact with Ryder as Ryder was carrying the puck in along the boards, went down and looked to the ref for a penalty call. I do believe that is the definition of a dive, a play which should have carried a two minute penalty. I really wish it had been called, that would have helped to change the on-ice antics in this series.

Bernard, Sam Pollock the guy who traded Lafleur, and Robinson where are you going with this. As far as the penalties I hope the b’s practice their dives and death rolls as players like Hamrlik tried in the third when he hit Ryder, or Price in the third when he laid flat out. I give the Habs high marks for creativity and one hell of a thrird period. But I give the B’s more credit for the first period killing three penalties the first ok the other two wow. The two goals where a finishing touch.

A visiting coach at the bell center must plan on at least three more penalties than the Habs. I honestly believe after last night that the 21,000 plus absolutley influence calls for there team or lack of called on them.

Glad Ference didn’t hesitate to challenge Pouliot to a fight. Yeah, you don’t want to give up extra penalty minutes for an instigator in a game like this, but that had to be addressed on the ice.

I also enjoyed Brickley’s passionate rant about the refs screwing up, even though on the television at least it was obvious that they had Pouliot tagged for a penalty from the getgo. Channeling a bit of his partner there. Loved it.

There were some other questionable hits in other games tonight too (Kunitz elbowing Gagne in the back of the head and Downie laying out Lovejoy) so they’ll probably pass on giving Pouliot anything. My guess is that if Boychuk dived and stayed down like he was shot (similar to Hamrlik and Wisniewski tonight) then he may get 1 game.